I really had a lot I wanted to say, I couldn't last time because I was on my phone but now I'm on my brother's tablet and it allows me to reply to answers.

My main concern is I feel my ability to believe is slowly slipping away...and it has a lot to do with my natural high anxiety.... Which seems to grow worse when I pursue God.
I'm going to keep going after Him...its just I feel the anxiety I'm experiencing isn't natural for a believer... And it hinders me pursing Him...I was curious as to what door I could have opened for all this to manifest.

I have general anxiety disorder that I have to take medication for. I haven't heard anything from God that it is demonic so I'm not too worried . I have never had anxiety when pursuing God or furthering my faith in Him. If anything, it is an anxiety and stress reliever when you get lost in His word because of how awesome He is!

You necessarily wouldn't have opened a door. I always ask the Lord to forgive me for my sins & wash me with his BLOOD almost 2-3 times a day even though I may not have consciously/unconsciously sinned. Its just become a habit of mine now to ask him to wash my mind, my heart, my soul and my spirit with his BLOOD! And if there is any open door I ask his forgiveness - ask him to close the door and wash me. The Lord is always merciful (he can see our hearts)

I always remember some preacher said this: Be QUICK to repent even if your in doubt. Never leave a door open to the enemy!

Read James 1:2-12

Pancakes I was at Hillsong's last night we had a guest speaker Carl Lentz pastor of Hillsong - New York. He preached on James 1:2 on wards regarding us going through trials and temptations I know this is got nothing to do with anxiety but bear with me. Look at what verse 12 says :

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him"

If we look at anxiety as a "trial" here in ONLY your case:

I felt Holy Spirit remind me of the trials I've been through in the past and it felt so small compared to where the Lord has brought me and has grown me over the last few months. Anxiety (In your case) might have to do a lot with the soulish realm. The more you read and meditate on his word you starve your soul while your spirit grows and gets stronger in him. Wait on the Lord in silence Pancakes in worship and still your soul before him. That anxiety will go in Jesus name. It could just be a trial and a test. Persevered because he has promised us the crown of life

I have general anxiety disorder that I have to take medication for. I haven't heard anything from God that it is demonic so I'm not too worried . I have never had anxiety when pursuing God or furthering my faith in Him. If anything, it is an anxiety and stress reliever when you get lost in His word because of how awesome He is!

A lot of people nowdays have anxiety and depression and other mental conditions because of the bad ingredients in foods, like GMO, artificial colorings, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. And gluten is also nowdays known to cause mental and physical health problems without having the Celiac disease or any other condition in which you can't eat gluten.

I also have anxiety and depression a lot but because of my neurological conditions. I have attention deficiency symptoms, learning disabilities, and developmental delay, and these symptoms are all related to the Autism spectrum. I have the Asperger features. My neurological conditions also cause these bipolar symptoms, as in periods of depression, and then periods of mania...

And no, anxiety and depression are not sins, but they need to be treated. I don't even think the Bible mentions that anxiety and depression are sins... Saying something like that seems like blaming the patient. And no one should blame anyone.

Whether or not a person has a bona fide disorder, we shouldn't be confessing it, or claiming it as having ownership of it, but confessing that we are whole in the name of Jesus. The enemy wants us sick or impaired, but our Father wants us well. Jesus died for all of our illnesses, so we can have our healing through Him. No one is exempt.

Just a point you may want to consider:
Rather than continually confessing sins that we have not committed, like some sort of spiritual OCD, let's simply believe God when He says He has forgiven us and has cast our sins far away---never to be remembered again. If God has forgotten them and doesn't hold them against us, who are we to do it? If we are always reminded of our past sins, then we are not trusting or believing God, and the anxiety and depression that this brings is the result of that. It doesn't please God to have us reject His grace and mercy. So, you can make up your mind if that constitutes sin for you.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

There's a couple things going on here that maybe you've not thought of. God is light and yet whenever He appears in full those around Him are in great horror and in great darkness. Why is that? Well it's because He is so pure that what we experience from Him is our own impurities. The closer we get to Him the more that looking glass points back to us and our undealt with sin. Yes, Jesus paid it all, but He left us with this flesh which is still corrupt (hence the reason He has to give us a new one 1 Cor 15:52-54). But we do not have to wait until that day. As sons of God you have the right to "enter His gates with thanksgiving" and "into His courts with praise" and to "come boldly unto the throne of Grace". But to do those things we must get past the veil. God tore the veil of the temple from top to bottom so that we may have access to Him. But the closer we get the more terrifying it gets because of our flesh. Have faith and press through the veil and pursue Him.

Isaiah 25:7-8 (KJV)
And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it].

Unlike the lost you have the means to go to God and go through the vail and get understanding, peace, truth and a sound mind, but each must go through it on their own through prayer and meditation and in faith. It's not going to get any easier the more the devil brings his antichrist to power. Now I do not believe we will see him, but how bad will it have to get to have the whole world accept one man. Look at the reward for those that overcome.

Revelation 3:21 (KJV)To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Now is the time to ask, seek and knock.

Revelation 2:25 (KJV)But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.

Being a born again child of God, there is no "natural anxiety". That comes because of fear, which is not of God. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Every time the Word of God is sown Satan comes immediately to steal that Word. He will use what ever he can to do it. Fear is his main weapon. Fear is the complete opposite of faith, as faith moves the hands of God, fears moves the hands of Satan. Satan does not want you to discover the authority God has given you in the realm of the spirit. If you do you will a danger to his plans. Confess God's Word over yourself and family and things will change, fear will run in terror from you, and the peace of God will over flow from within you.

Whether or not a person has a bona fide disorder, we shouldn't be confessing it, or claiming it as having ownership of it, but confessing that we are whole in the name of Jesus. The enemy wants us sick or impaired, but our Father wants us well. Jesus died for all of our illnesses, so we can have our healing through Him. No one is exempt.

Just a point you may want to consider:
Rather than continually confessing sins that we have not committed, like some sort of spiritual OCD, let's simply believe God when He says He has forgiven us and has cast our sins far away---never to be remembered again. If God has forgotten them and doesn't hold them against us, who are we to do it? If we are always reminded of our past sins, then we are not trusting or believing God, and the anxiety and depression that this brings is the result of that. It doesn't please God to have us reject His grace and mercy. So, you can make up your mind if that constitutes sin for you.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

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I will ask God what He thinks. In your experience, do people who have such illnesses just pray, seek someone with the gift of healing or both?

I will ask God what He thinks. In your experience, do people who have such illnesses just pray, seek someone with the gift of healing or both?

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People with these or any ailments need to learn that they already have their healing. Jesus died for our diseases, as well as our sins. So...they need the Lord to send people to teach them how to appropriate their healing that they already have.

1 Peter 2:24(AMP)
He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

Isaiah 53:5(AMP)
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

Staff MemberHelperPrayer Team

I really had a lot I wanted to say, I couldn't last time because I was on my phone but now I'm on my brother's tablet and it allows me to reply to answers.

My main concern is I feel my ability to believe is slowly slipping away...and it has a lot to do with my natural high anxiety.... Which seems to grow worse when I pursue God.
I'm going to keep going after Him...its just I feel the anxiety I'm experiencing isn't natural for a believer... And it hinders me pursing Him...I was curious as to what door I could have opened for all this to manifest.

Click to expand...

I have this verse in my office desk.. It was presented to me by my wife.. Every time devil tries to tempt me using my old sinful ways, I simply look up to the verse.. Probably a good one for you to remember when the devil brings up weakness of flesh and tries to bring us down..

Galatians 2:20
My old self has been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

You necessarily wouldn't have opened a door. I always ask the Lord to forgive me for my sins & wash me with his BLOOD almost 2-3 times a day even though I may not have consciously/unconsciously sinned. Its just become a habit of mine now to ask him to wash my mind, my heart, my soul and my spirit with his BLOOD! And if there is any open door I ask his forgiveness - ask him to close the door and wash me. The Lord is always merciful (he can see our hearts)

This was good Jake. I find that if someone does not actually believe (trust/know) God is faithful to forgive and cleanse (some new Christians go through this), it is difficult for them to accept they really are...I do not know if this applies to Pancakes she was not specific about what she feels anxious about...but I thought I would add it to the mix

Jesus gave us a powerful picture of what His Father is like when He told the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). It’s the story of a rebellious, wayward boy who demanded his inheritance from his father and then set off to live life his way. He squandered everything before being forced by circumstances to consider returning home.

Because of his past behavior, he assumed his father would no longer welcome him as a son, but he hoped that possibly his father might have mercy on him and give him work as a servant.

He was living with a sense of condemnation. His thoughts were based on an understanding of love that is natural and human. Human experience teaches us that when we hurt someone, they usually take offense and close off part of their hearts to us. Generally the only way to get them to open their hearts to us again is by demonstrating true remorse and then proving over time that we are trustworthy.

This son assumed that because of his behavior, he had burned his bridges with his father and could now only hope, at best, for a position as a servant.

One of the greatest revelations I have ever received is that God’s love for me is not based on my behavior. Even while we were still sinners, God loved us and gave Himself for us (Rom. 5:8). The love of God doesn’t change toward us. Whether we are good, bad or ugly, He loves each of us entirely. When we mess up, we aren’t surprising Him.

He knew what we were going to do ahead of time and still chose to place His affection on us. As author Graham Cooke says, God is never disillusioned with us because He never had any illusions about us to begin with! He is never annoyed with us to the point that He will stop loving us. Even if we don’t love Him back, He still loves us powerfully and intensely.

There was a time when I struggled to believe that truth. I knew in theory that God loved me—after all, didn’t the Bible tell me so? My mind accepted this as a fact. But in my heart I felt as if God just tolerated me because He had to. Whenever I sinned, I felt I had to work hard to regain even that place of tolerated acceptance again. Like the prodigal son, my understanding of love was natural and human.

I remember praying and confessing my sins one day as I was driving in the car. It was my usual practice to go over anything and everything I’d ever done or could think of and ask forgiveness for it, just in case I hadn’t repented properly the previous time I had asked. But as I asked God that particular day to once again forgive me for everything I might have done wrong, I felt Him interrupt me. I had just been pleading, “God, forgive me for this and that and for all the sins I’ve ever committed,” when He spoke to me and said, “OK.” That was all. Just “OK,” as if it were all settled.

I didn’t know what to do with that response! It was such a shock to me. Suddenly I realized I spent 90 percent of my prayer life repenting of things for which I’d already asked forgiveness. Ephesians 2:8–9 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ and not of works, which means our forgiveness is based entirely on His love for us. He had already forgiven me, and I was just persisting in unbelief.

The truth of the gospel is that Jesus saw what I would do before I even did it and paid the penalty for it in advance. What was lacking on my part was faith, not only in His forgiveness but also in His character. So many times I have felt a need to repent “properly”—that a quick sorry wouldn’t be enough. This is how it works with human beings we’ve offended, so that’s how we think it works with God.

Guilt should lead us to reach out and receive mercy, but often I felt as though I needed to really grieve for a time and let my sins weigh heavily on me until I had emotionally “paid” for them. I thought that the answer to redemption was to spend time dwelling in the dark places of my soul.

Human nature likes the idea of doing something for ourselves, of feeling that we’ve worked hard enough to earn God’s mercy. But that’s really a form of self-righteousness.

Think of how Jesus forgave Peter for denying Him three times. Peter had cursed and sworn he didn’t know Jesus. That’s a pretty offensive sin, and Peter felt terrible about it. Judas betrayed Jesus and didn’t know how to deal with his regret; he ended up killing himself, as though he were trying to pay for what he had done. But when Peter came to Jesus after His resurrection, the Lord helped him see that His love not only offered forgiveness but also qualification for ministry. And as if it was a sign of God’s redemption, we see that on the Day of Pentecost Peter is used as the chief spokesperson to speak to the crowds.

God has already forgiven us, and all we have to do is receive it by faith. He doesn’t want us to live under a sense of condemnation. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” The word in (en in Greek) used in this passage can be translated “positioned at rest.” He essentially says, “There is no condemnation for those who are resting in faith in Me, as part of My body.” We are part of Him when we receive His life, part of His body, and He won’t condemn Himself.

John expresses it another way: “There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:18–19, HCSB). That doesn’t fit our human understanding, but this is God’s way whether we understand it or not.

God’s love cannot be interpreted through the filter of our human experience, and as the beautiful parable of the prodigal son reveals, His love is not like the human love we experience on a daily basis. His love is so surprisingly kind! It is a love that passes all of our understanding.

Katherine Ruonala has a prophetic and healing ministry and travels internationally as a conference speaker bringing a message of love, grace and hope. She and her husband are the founders and senior ministers of Glory City Church Brisbane and oversee the international Glory Gathering church planting network. They have been married for 22 years and have three beautiful children, Jessica, Emily and Joseph. This article is excerpted from Ruonala's book Living in the Miraculous.

This was good Jake. I find that if someone does not actually believe (trust/know) God is faithful to forgive and cleanse (some new Christians go through this), it is difficult for them to accept they really are...I do not know if this applies to Pancakes she was not specific about what she feels anxious about...but I thought I would add it to the mix

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Thanks Brother Paul! I think the only reason why I mentioned that is because Pancakes mentioned that she was wondering if she opened a door somewhere. I started ranting off on doors being opened in her life that could have started off that anxiety. But yes I wasn't sure either